Afghanistan · share of its news about armed violence, last 12 months
Afghanistan: how tense is it right now?
13.1% of the news located in Afghanistan this week is about armed violence (war and terrorism): #11 of the 74 countries we track. Compared with its own history since 2017, that is around its usual level (45 out of 100).
Armed-conflict intensity13.1%of its news, last 7 days
Rank#11of 74 countries
Vs its own history45around its usual level
Share of the world’s war news0.47%weighed by severity
Afghanistan · weekly average since 2017 (highest: 27 February 2026)
The tensest weeks for Afghanistan since 2017share of its news about armed violence, 7 days
| Week ending | Intensity | Nearby event |
|---|---|---|
| 27 February 2026 | 31.3% | — |
| 2 May 2018 | 30.9% | — |
| 16 August 2018 | 30.4% | — |
| 6 August 2017 | 29.7% | — |
| 28 October 2020 | 29.3% | — |
Year by year
| Year | Average intensity | Highest week | Typical rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14.2% | 31.3% | #11 |
| 2025 | 10.3% | 26.7% | #18 |
| 2024 | 11.1% | 23.0% | #16 |
| 2023 | 9.9% | 16.7% | #18 |
| 2022 | 11.5% | 23.3% | #15 |
| 2021 | 13.9% | 24.3% | #9 |
| 2020 | 16.7% | 29.3% | #5 |
| 2019 | 17.5% | 25.0% | #5 |
| 2018 | 21.2% | 30.9% | #3 |
| 2017 | 20.6% | 29.7% | #4 |
Major events involving Afghanistan
Full historyCompare Afghanistan
Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific
All countriesFrequently asked questions
How tense is Afghanistan right now?
13.1% of the news located in Afghanistan over the last 7 days was about armed violence (war and terrorism), which ranks it #11 of the 74 countries Riftrate tracks.
Is Afghanistan more tense than usual?
Compared with its own history since 2017, Afghanistan is around its usual level: it has been calmer on 45% of days.
When was Afghanistan most tense since 2017?
The highest reading was 31.3%, in the 7 days to 27 February 2026.
Which countries in Asia-Pacific are the most tense right now?
Myanmar (16.2%), Afghanistan (13.1%), North Korea (11.0%).
Where does this data come from?
From the GDELT Project, which codes events reported in the world’s news in more than 100 languages and locates them. Riftrate measures the share of each country’s news about armed violence, excluding ordinary crime and policing. It measures the news, not casualties.
How it is measured: GDELT locates every event reported in the news. We take all the coverage of events located in the country over 7 days and measure the part about armed violence: war and terrorism, excluding ordinary crime and policing. It does not depend on the size of the country or on how many newspapers cover it. It measures the news, not the number of victims. Methodology